MLB Player News

Sanchez (ankle) began a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League on Thursday, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Sanchez has been participating in running and hitting drills at the Jays' complex in Florida since July 6, though Thursday marks the first time he's played in a game after landing on the IL with a sprained ankle in late June. He'll move up to Single-A Dunedin on Friday before joining Triple-A Buffalo early next week, seemingly putting him on pace to rejoin the big club at the end of July or early August.

Marte was scratched from Thursday's lineup in St. Louis due to back stiffness, Steve Zinsmeister of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM reports.

Marte has a history of back issues and this flareup looks like a day-to-day situation for the time being. Tyler Locklear entered the Diamondbacks' lineup in Marte's place, with Tim Tawa shifting to third base and Ildemaro Vargas to second base.

Smith went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer in Thursday's 6-5 win over the Padres.

Making just his second start in six games, Smith put Atlanta ahead in the fourth inning by taking Griffin Canning deep for his seventh homer this season and first since June 6. Smith had gone just 3-for-19 with five walks and no extra-base hits in nine games prior to Thursday. Overall, he's slashing .264/.318/.395 with 39 RBI and 35 runs scored across 246 plate appearances this season.

Gilbert (shoulder) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte on Thursday, Brooke Fletcher of Chicago Sports Network reports.

Gilbert has been cleared to test things out in a game setting after missing the past six-plus weeks with a left shoulder impingement. The lefty will likely require a handful of rehab outings before being returned to the active roster.

Canning (1-9) took the loss Thursday against Atlanta, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits across 2.2 innings. He struck out four.

The Padres elected to use an opener ahead of Canning on Thursday, but it didn't seem to help the right-hander. Canning gave up three homers in the loss -- two solo shots before Dominic Smith added a three-run blast in the fourth. Canning has now taken the loss in four consecutive outings while allowing eight earned runs across just 6.1 innings in his last two appearances. His ERA is up to 6.97 across 62 innings this season with a 1.63 WHIP and 63:32 K:BB.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Thursday that Dobbins will remain with the major-league club for the time being, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.

Dobbins tossed six shutout innings Wednesday versus the Angels in what had seemed likely to be just a spot start. He will remain with the big club for now and could get another turn in the rotation next week, though that seems dependent on whether the Cardinals need to use Dobbins' roster spot for a reliever between now and then. A possible trade of Dustin May before the deadline would also open up a rotation spot for Dobbins, who has authored a 3.18 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 28:10 K:BB across 28.1 innings with St. Louis.

Tolbert isn't in the lineup for Thursday's game against Detroit.

Tolbert looked to be next in line to start at shortstop after Bobby Witt (back) landed on the injured list Wednesday, but the former will miss out on the starting nine for a second straight game Thursday in favor of Andrew Velazquez.

Caglianone (shoulder) isn't in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Tigers.

Caglianone will now miss a second consecutive start after injuring his shoulder while making a diving attempt in the outfield during Tuesday's contest. Nick Loftin will start in right field and bat eighth while Caglianone takes another day to recover.

Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said Thursday that he expects Acuna (hamstring) to be activated from the 10-day injured list before the end of this weekend, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Acuna will play his eighth and likely final rehab game Thursday with Triple-A Gwinnett. A return to the active roster Friday is possible, though the club could elect to give Acuna a day to rest before activating him later in the weekend. The star outfielder has been sidelined since early June due to a Grade 1 left hamstring strain.

Murphy (finger) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday, Harrison Smajovits of SI.com reports.

Murphy has been limited to only four games for Atlanta this season, first due to offseason hip surgery and more recently because of a fractured left middle finger that's kept him shelved since mid-May. The veteran catcher should be ready to rejoin the active roster in early August if all goes well on his rehab assignment.